1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to forgery deterrent and authentication systems and methods, and more particularly to forgery deterrent and authentication systems and methods related to signatures.
2. Background Art
Forgery of signatures has been and remains a problem in all aspects of society wherein value is placed on the authenticity of a signature. This is true whether the signature is placed on an important document such as a will or contract or whether the signature is considered to have intrinsic value such as the signature of a celebrity. Indeed, a forger does not always have to be very good in order to be successful. A system whereby any person whose signature is being protected (xe2x80x9cPrincipalxe2x80x9d) could deter the forging of his or her signature and obtain authentication of his or her signature by the placement of a unique forgery proof medium next to his or her signature would be useful but is not available today.
An authentication system to guarantee the authenticity of sports memorabilia articles is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,047 dated Jan. 10, 1995 to Molee and Ellis and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,756 dated Dec. 7, 1993 to Molee and Ellis, both assigned to The Upper Deck Company (xe2x80x9cUpper Deckxe2x80x9d) (collectively xe2x80x9cMolee Patentsxe2x80x9d). The Molee Patents require that the athlete sign the article being authenticated in the presence of an Upper Deck Authenticated representative. Upper Deck then places a hologram that contains a unique serial number on the article. A certificate of authenticity is then prepared by Upper Deck that contains a hologram identical to the hologram placed on the article. The memorabilia is packaged by Upper Deck with a registration card that gives the purchaser of the article the opportunity to register ownership of the article with Upper Deck.
However, the Upper Deck system is not designed to deter the forgery of signatures or to authenticate signatures generally. It is designed as a marketing tool for Upper Deck to ensure to the sports memorabilia buying public that the articles it is selling are authentic. Upper Deck""s main business is the marketing of sports memorabilia, and it therefore has a pecuniary interest in ensuring a continuous supply of the very merchandise it is authenticating. Upper Deck""s system is not designed to be used outside its market niche. Further, it requires that the article being authenticated be authenticated in the presence of an Upper Deck representative. Additionally, the serial number on the hologram is in no way unique to the athlete that signed the article but is only unique to the Upper Deck article. Upper Deck""s system does not allow for the distribution of the authenticating holograms to athletes for their use when not signing in the presence of an Upper Deck representative.
Additionally, the hologram that is used by Upper Deck does not contain any information except the article""s serial number. The system taught by the present invention allows a variety of information to be encoded into the information bearing medium including a unique personal identification number, a sequential code and an exact facsimile of the actual signature placed on the item itself.
An object of the present invention is to provide a general forgery deterrent and an authentication system for signatures.
Another object of this invention is to provide the signature with verifiable authentication indicia.
Another object of this invention is to establish a central registrar and data base for electronic fingerprints (xe2x80x9cEFxe2x80x9d) that will encode Personal Identification Number (xe2x80x9cPINsxe2x80x9d), sequential codes (xe2x80x9cCodesxe2x80x9d) and Facsimile Signatures on EFs.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an EF used is one which is an encrypted two dimensional bar code or alternatively a forgery proof diffraction grating pattern or similar information bearing medium. The EF is issued by a central registrar (xe2x80x9cCRxe2x80x9d) to a Principal. The EF is encoded by the CR with the Principal""s PIN and a sequentially numbered associated code (xe2x80x9cCodexe2x80x9d) distinct for each EF distributed. The Principal must acknowledge to the CR, through the use of his or her PIN, that he or she has received physical possession of the EFs before the EFs are considered valid. The Principal affixes the EF to any document or other object (xe2x80x9cItemxe2x80x9d) alongside the signature of the Principal. The EF is affixed to the Item with a tamper proof adhesive. After the EF has been placed on an Item by the Principal, the Principal or subsequent person to whom the Principal has directly or indirectly released the Item (xe2x80x9cHolderxe2x80x9d) of the Item has the option of having the Item authenticated and/or registered with the CR by an agent (xe2x80x9cAgentxe2x80x9d) of the CR. A representative of the CR mechanically or optically reads the EF with an illuminated light or other suitable source which recognizes the PIN as having been issued to the Principal whose signature is affixed to the Item. A description of the Item along with the PIN and Code is registered with the CR The CR then issues a certificate of authenticity (xe2x80x9cCAxe2x80x9d). If the EF has been affixed to the Item in the presence of an Agent of the CR or if the Principal requests the authentication of the Item, the CA so states. If the CA is requested by a Holder of an Item which has not been previously authenticated by the Principal, the CA verifies that the EF found on the Item was issued to the Principal. The CA describes the Item and the CA itself contains an EF with a PIN and Code identical to the EF affixed to the Item. A record of the ownership of the Item is maintained at the CR. The CR may issue CAs to subsequent Holders of the Item and maintain a record of the transfer of the Item to the subsequent Holder similar to the chain of title to real property maintained by a title policy plant.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Principal""s signature that has been placed on an Item in the presence of an Agent of the CR is scanned by the Agent. The actual signature the Principal has just placed on the Item is encoded into the EF along with the Principal""s PIN and Code. When the EF is subsequently read, an exact Facsimile Signature will be displayed on the Agent""s computer terminal showing exactly how the actual signature the Principal placed on the Item should look. The EF is printed by the Agent and placed on the Item or an accompanying article. Registration of the Item takes place immediately with the CR as described above. With this preferred embodiment, a subsequent Holder of the Item will be able to not only verify that the Item has an appropriate EF but will also be able to compare the signature found on the Item to the signature encoded in the EF.
It is an added forgery deterrent to scan the signature the Principal has just placed on an Item into the EF. No Principal signs his name in exactly the same way each time. Even if a forger were somehow able to copy the EF placed on an Item in an attempt to commit a forgery, it would be impossible for the forger to sign the Principal""s name in the exact same way that the Facsimile Signature is memorialized in the EF.